A Place To Belong
by Karania Avalon
Summary: (PokemonLOTR) Have you ever felt that your friends didn’t understand you? Lauren did, and due to that fact she set out to fulfill her dream and to prove to her friends that she was just as good as they were.
1. Some Things Just Aren't Meant To Be

A Place To Belong 

**~*~**

Name: Lauren Black 

**Eyes: Brown**

**Hair: Golden Brown**

**Age: 18**

**Personality: Moves in a very graceful manner as she was a ballerina.  She treasures her friends dearly, though she likes to have some time to herself too.  She adores her pokemon and treats them like family.  In fact she even sings to her pokemon.  She's very different than her friends, and for that reason she often finds herself an outcast in society.  She believes in the legends about the elves, and dreams that she might one day get to meet them.  Lauren really desires to find a place where she's accepted and appreciated and not shunned and ignored because she believes in things that most people do not.**

**Appearance: Wears a pale blue peasant shirt with a white peasant skirt, along with white socks and light blue tennis shoes.  She wears a black belt that is studded with Jade stones around her waist to accent her skirt.**

**Pokemon:  **

**Milotic: (Water/Dragon); Nickname: Mystic **

**Tropius: (Grass/Flying); Nickname: Sandra**

**Beautifly: (Bug/Flying); Ariel**

**Espeon: (Psychic); Sakura**

**Houndoom: (Dark/Fire); Casey**

**Ampharos: (Electric); Sparkle**

**Note:  All her pokemon are at level 60**

**~*~**

**Author's note: The in the story indicate pokemon speech.**

**~*~**

Chapter 1 

Lauren and her friends were camped along a quiet river in the valley of a mountain pass.  Lauren was grooming her pokemon while her girlfriends just sat around chatting about the new styles of clothing and about the boys that they had their eyes on.  Lauren wasn't interested in their conversation so she was devoting her free time to her pokemon.

"Chill, Casey, I'm only going to brush your coat to make it silky smooth."  Lauren told her Houndoom matter of factly.

 You're sure it won't hurt me?  Casey asked.

"Yes, I'm sure; I wouldn't use anything on you if I thought that it would hurt you."  Lauren replied while patting Casey on the head.

Okay then, brush away!  Casey replied.

Lauren continued to brush Casey, and while she was doing so one of her friends walked over to her, "Lauren, you devote too much time to your pokemon, you need to lighten up and have fun for a change."

"I am having fun, my kind of fun is being around my pokemon."  Lauren replied.

"You're weird."  Lauren's friend shot back.

"Only because you make fun of things you don't understand!"  Lauren shot back.

"You'll never be one of us!"  Her girlfriend exclaimed.

"Did you ever think that I ever cared to be one of you?  Because I don't!  If I can't be with my pokemon, then you might as well not be my friends."  Lauren snapped.

"Suit yourself."  Lauren's girlfriend said walking away.

Once she was out of earshot, Lauren looked at Casey and said, "They just don't understand that pokemon training is my life.  They think the world revolves around malls and boys when it doesn't.  They'll never understand me…….  I might as well not call them friends because what kind of friend asks you to stop doing the one thing you love doing?"

Then they don't deserve your friendship; you should find friends who share the same passion you do for life.  It may be hard to find these kinds of friends, but it is possible Casey answered.

"You're right, Casey……  Come on, it's about time that we enter in a Pokemon Tournament.  I have all the badges required for the Hoenn League and then some from all the other leagues I've competed in.  With you at my side we'll overcome even the toughest opponent!  We might even be able to topple the Elite Four and the Champion and clinch the title."  Lauren said optimisticly.

That's the spirit!  I can't wait!  Let's go!  Casey exclaimed.

"Alright, we'll head there now."  Lauren said, putting her brush away and standing up.  "Come along, Casey, we really need to get going because the tournament starts in three days time, and it'll take us awhile to get to Evergrande City.  Alright, let's get a move on."  Lauren remarked to Casey.

Recall me back into my ball, and let's get a move on  Casey replied.

Lauren recalled Casey back into her poke ball, then she walked over to where her friends were and said, "I'll see you later, I'm going to compete in a tournament."

"You won't win.  You're second rate compared to us."  Her friends replied.

"You're not even trainers!"  Lauren exclaimed.

"Still you'll never be as good and pretty as we are."  Her friends replied.

"If that's your attitude about it, then you're not my friends anymore.  If you aren't going to support my dreams, then I don't need you.  Goodbye."  Then with that Lauren walked off leaving her friends shocked since they couldn't believe that she had just ended their friendship.  Lauren now called out Sandra and flew to Evergrande City.  Once she arrived in Evergrande City, she registered for the tournament and got a key to one of the trainer houses that she would be using while she was competing in the tournament.  As Lauren was settling into her temporary home she thought to herself, "This might be harder than I thought since I don't have any friends to support me through this tournament……  Hopefully I'll be able to make some new friends to replace my old selfish, self-centered friends, who don't even care about me…….."

Lauren now began researching tournament etiquette and the rules that you had to abide by while you were competing.  She knew that this would keep her busy for awhile so she dove into it, since she knew that she only had a few days to master all the information before the tournament started.  As she was booting up the PC, Lauren thought about what she might have to expect in her battles ahead, and wondered what kind of friends she would make.  All Lauren could do now was research the tournament and wait for more people to show up so that she could make new friends and hopefully achieve her dream.


	2. Memories and Expectations

Chapter 2

Three days past and sure enough Lauren had mastered everything she needed to know about the tournament. She had learned how a winning trainer was supposed to act, how the tournament round rounds were laid out, and what ranking you needed to achieve in order to be able to fight the Elite Four. Many of the competing trainers were just now arriving, and the welcoming ceremony was supposed to start in an hour in the main stadium. Lauren was starting to feel a little nervous about competing, but she had faith in her pokemon so she wasn't too worried. Over the few days she had been at Evergrande, she had seen glimces of the Elite Four as they dashed about doing things, and Sidney had even waved at her, which made her feel special. Over the past several days, Lauren also groomed her pokemon, and sang to them.

(start flashback)

One of the songs she sang to them the day before the actual tournament was to start, when she had no idea that while she was being observed by Sidney and also wasn't aware that he was hearing her song as well.

Lauren still remembered that when she finished that song she heard someone clapping and when she turned around she saw that it was Sidney, and when she found that out she blushed.

"Aw, it's not that bad…… You've got a nice voice. Your pokemon are very lucky to have you to sing to them." Sidney said.

"Okay, thanks." Lauren replied.

"By the way do you always sing to your pokemon?" Sidney asked.

"Yes, I've always sung to them, it's just something I've always done." Lauren replied.

Sidney smiled, "Keep it up, okay? Oh, and I would like to see good stuff coming from you and your wonder team, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try." Lauren replied.

"Okay, good. I'll see you around, I've gotta go, bye." Then Sidney walked away.

(end flashback)

Lauren! Earth to Lauren, come in Lauren Casey said.

"Oh, Casey, I'm okay, I was just thinking about yesterday." Lauren looked at her watch "Holy smokes! We need to be at the stadium in ten minutes! Come on everyone back in your balls, I'll try to let you out later." Lauren said.

Lauren recalled all her pokemon and ran to the stadium, and found out where she needed to go and she went there, which as it turned out was a long hallway where trainers were lining up to wait to be welcomed to the competition. She joined the rest of the trainers, and together they waited for the welcoming ceremony to begin. The ten minutes passed quickly, and before Lauren knew it the line began to move as everyone who was competing walked out onto the stadium floor. Lauren wasn't as nervous as many of the other competitors because she had experience with getting up in front of people and doing something tough, so being in front of thousands of people was almost nothing to her. When her turn came, Lauren stepped out onto the stadium floor, and when she did so she saw Sidney and the rest of the Elite on the stage that had been set up for this occasion. Sidney looked around and when his eyes landed on Lauren, he smiled, which made Lauren feel a little better and feel that she belonged here and that she could do this.

A few minutes Drake broke the silence and spoke into his microphone and said, "Welcome to this year's annual competition, before the battles start tomorrow there's some things I need to go over. Firstly, the battles that will take place tomorrow will be held in this stadium, and secondly we will using an electronic machine to pit each person against another. Tomorrow will be the longest day for battles because there are so many people, but that's a good thing, it pleases me to see so many spirited young people. Now one important thing I want you to remember throughout this competition, You are all winners, even if you lose, it takes courage to compete in a tournament like this and for that fact I commend you for taking the plunge to try to achieve your dreams. Now, I assume you all know the rules of the battles so I won't bore you with details…… Okay, now we need everyone to go over to the building where they registered this morning or earlier if you arrived before this afternoon." Drake said, his gaze falling on Lauren. "Okay battle valiantly, and the top three finishers will get a chance to take us on. So give these battles everything you've got. Okay, that's everything I have to say. You may proceed to the registration building so that you can find out who you'll be battling tomorrow."

Drake turned off the microphone and everyone walked out of the stadium and headed to the registration building. Somehow Lauren ended up at the registration building first since most of the trainers had gotten lost on the way over there, but since Lauren had spent several days in Evergrande City, she knew where quite a few things were so naturally some trainers started to follow her when they saw that she knew where she was going. Lauren walked inside and walked over to the lady that would start the machine to determine who she would battle the next day.

"Okay, since you're here first, you'll be battling first tomorrow. Now let's see who your opponent is……" She pressed a few buttons and two pictures appeared on the screen, and the boy behind Lauren gasped and gulped since he hadn't wanted to battle first; but Lauren didn't really react she had hoped that she would get to battle first and she had gotten her wish.

Lauren's opponent was a boy named Joshua Cunnings, and he had black hair and blue eyes, and wore a red shirt with blue jeans and a green hat with white print and white running shoes.

"Joshua Cunnings, your opponent will be Miss Lauren Black." The lady announced.

The boy gulped and sighed, and nodded knowing that the decision was final and that there was no way that he was going to get a different opponent. Now Lauren left the registration building after the lady told her that her battle would be at 8 o'clock the next morning. Lauren walked out of the building and went to have dinner, then after she had eaten, she walked back to the place where she was staying and set her alarm clock to go off at 6 o'clock the next morning so that she would have time to get a shower before her battle. Lauren changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed and fell asleep in a couple of minutes.


End file.
